In June, Intel released its new Kaby Lake-X and Skylake-X CPU architectures based on the X299 platform. We talked about the current flagship 10-core, 20-thread i9-7900X, comparing it to the previous Broadwell-E flagship, the i7-6950X, and the AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs. Alongside the flagship 10-core, Intel released an 8-core, 16-thread i7-7820X, which costs “only” $599, compared to the previous $1000+ of last generation’s i7-6900K. Alongside these processors there are also the AMD Ryzen 7 8-core 16-thread CPUs, costing from ~$320 to ~$499, depending on the model.

The i7-7820X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor running at a 3.6 GHz base, 4.3 GHz boost and 4.5 GHz TurboMax frequency, costing $599. Last generation’s i7-6900K runs at a 3.2 GHz base, 3.7 GHz boost and 4.0 GHz max turbo frequency, costing $1089. The AMD Ryzen 7 1700 is a ~$300 8-core 16-thread Summit Ridge CPU with a 3.0 GHz base and 3.7 GHz Turbo clock on a single core. The Ryzen 7 1700 can be easily overclocked to match the performance of the Ryzen 7 1800X on any $80+ motherboard, so we will use this CPU as a comparison.

The list of the already released and upcoming X299-based chips from Intel.

As was with the i9-7900X vs i7-6950X, the i7-7820X has a modified cache infrastructure compared to its previous generation counterpart. Instead of 20 MB of L3 cache on the i7-6900K, the newer 8-core now has only 11 MB of L3 cache. That is due to cache re-organization, where Intel started using a similar strategy to AMD, creating a so-called “victim cache,” which improves or hurts performance, depending on the application. For a more in-depth cache analysis you can read the AnandTech Skylake-X review.

Another notable difference between the Broadwell-E and the Skylake-X CPUs is the PCIe lane design. Where the previous generation CPU supports up to 40 PCIe lanes, the newer i7-7820X only has 28. That is a 30% decrease, and for many it is one of the main reasons why the Skylake-X architecture is regarded poorly. Fewer PCIe lanes leads to less expandability options, especially in terms of graphics cards and fast storage devices.

Many sites have covered the i7-7820X, both in terms of professional applications and gaming:

The 3D particle movement v2.1 application was designed to simulate different algorithms. It is both core- and clock-dependent, which is why we see the i9-7900X leading the pack. The i7-6900K falls behind both the 1800X and the i7-7820X. Source: AnandTech

In DigiCortex, which is used for visualizing brain activity, the i7-7820X falls behind both the i7-6900K and the Ryzen 7 1800X. This benchmark is most likely heavily dependent on the L3 cache, which is why the Broadwell-E CPUs are leading in the benchmark. Source: AnandTech

Blender is a well-known and popular tool for video rendering. The i7-7820X is the fastest of the three CPUs in question, with performance comparable to the previous generation flagship, the i7-6950X. Source: AnandTech

Cinebench 15, a general benchmark for showing both multi- and single-threaded performance, shows a significant increase in the multi-threaded capabilities of the Skylake-X CPUs. Source: AnandTech

In general, the i7-7820X is a great CPU for productive workloads, offering relatively similar performance to the previous generation i7-6900K for $400 less. An overclocked Ryzen 7 1700 should still offer the best “bang for buck,” though, as it can often be found for around half the price of the 7820X, while being on the far cheaper AM4 platform. It will fall 10-15% behind in benchmarks, but for 50% of the price.

In terms of gaming, the i7-7820X falls somewhere between the gaming champion i7-7700K and the i7-6900K. For a $599 HEDT processor, it fairs very well, compared to the other two CPUs.

In Hitman (2016) we see nearly identical results between Intel’s current and previous generation HEDT processors. The Ryzen 7 1800X has a lower average, but similar 1% lows to the Intel counterparts. Source: TechSpot / HardwareUnboxed

Ashes of The Singularity, more a benchmark than a game nowadays, is one of the best implementations of DirectX 12 to date, and can handle both higher core and clock numbers. The i7-7820X is slightly faster than the 6900K, but noticeably ahead of the 1800X. Source: TechSpot / HardwareUnboxed

In gaming, Intel’s Skylake-X processors fair very well against both the Broadwell-E CPUs and AMD’s Ryzen 7. Intel is very good at competing with itself on all fronts, both in terms of price and performance (this depends more on the application and cache-related behavior now, but is mostly improved). However, when factoring in things such as power consumption, temperatures and total platform cost, the competition from AMD becomes much more stiff. Ryzen processors do not overheat due to the soldered heat-spreader (Intel is still using thermal paste, which is also of poor quality) and Ryzen consumes much less power when comparing performance/watt. The AM4 platform is also far cheaper than X299, and the CPUs do not require delidding or expensive water-cooled solutions to overclock. Even Intel’s previous generation Broadwell-E processors consume noticeably less power than the newest Skylake-X releases.

Intel’s new HEDT processors consume the most power in a CPU-bound Excel 2016 test scenario. Source: TechSpot / HardwareUnboxed

There is also the looming threat of a $1000 16-core 32-thread AMD Threadripper part coming out by the end of summer, so you may want to hold off from buying into a HEDT platform until then.